Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat said the ministry is working hard to regulate the citrus sector.
During a meeting on Sunday with The Jordanian-Palestinian Agricultural Products Marketing Company (JPACO) Director General, Abdul Halim Dugan, President of the Citrus Association, Ahmed Mohieddine Al-Ghazawi, and a number of citrus growers in the northern Jordan Valley, Hneifat stated that the ministry has been working for a year to organize and promote the citrus industry, particularly the lemon crop. The ministry has unified agricultural alliances to create a sector capable of providing the product locally and internationally.
He added that the ministry committed to importing to cover the gap between available local product and estimated needs of 7,000 tons, and that the quantities that exceeded the gap were 638 tons, and 37 customs consignments estimated at 1000 tons were re-exported, and the Customs Department was directed to facilitate re-export operations by easing the process of refunding customs
fees.
He explained that about 20 consignments of African lemons are currently being re-exported, noting that the ministry stopped granting licenses for African lemons since August 1, and gave consignments a grace period to enter the Kingdom until August 20.
Hneifat pointed out that the ministry collaborated to secure JD7 million from the Islamic Development Bank to support the citrus industry and the lemon crop. In this regard, it will work with JPACO to establish infrastructure to capitalize on the abundance of lemons and work on the ceration and cooling excess production to meet the needs of international markets as well as the local market.
Hneifat focused on developing a work plan that includes all stages of production, processing and the necessary equipment, pointing out that the ministry will provide support, training and qualification for agricultural cadres on picking, packing and processing mechanisms.
For their part, the attendees expressed appreciation for the ministry’s cooperation and opennes
s to the sector, noting the need to reduce the quantities imported in the coming seasons, in order to increase production quantities.
Source: Jordan News Agency